solo
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A passage or piece performed by a single musician, with or without accompaniment.
A solo can be a standalone unaccompanied performance (like a Bach cello suite), a passage within an ensemble work where one instrument takes the lead (like an orchestral solo), or a section in a concerto where the soloist plays without the orchestra (like a cadenza).
Solo performance demands different skills from ensemble playing. The soloist carries full responsibility for rhythm, intonation, and musical direction with no colleagues to lean on. In jazz, taking a solo means improvising over the chord changes — a personal statement that reveals the musician's individual voice. The greatest soloists in any genre combine technical mastery with a distinctive personal sound.
Jascha Heifetz practised alone for hours every day but rarely more than three hours, saying: If you practise with your fingers, no amount is enough. If you practise with your head, two hours is plenty.